Woman and young boy die in 'murder-suicide' at picture-perfect cottage in peaceful New Hampshire woods
A New Hampshire mother fatally shot her three-year-old son and then herself in a horror episode inside their picture-perfect cottage in the woods, cops said.
The tragedy unfolded shortly after midnight Friday as cops with the Pembroke Police Department were called to a $400,000 home by the survivor of a suspected murder-suicide.
Officers arrived to find Julia Byrne, 26, dead inside the home near to her infant son Blake, both of whom were suffering gunshot wounds, officials said.
The Pembroke Police Department said officers responded to the family's cottage near Pembroke Hill Road, in a secluded spot surrounded by a forest.
A witness, who has not been identified, told cops that they heard two gunshots in the home at around 1am, before finding Julia and Blake injured in her bedroom.
The toddler was rushed to Concord Hospital where he died from his injuries, and an autopsy obtained by DailyMail.com showed both sustained a single gunshot wound to the head.
Byrne's social media is filled with happy pictures of her and her young son on hikes and picnics, and investigators have not offered any details on what may have motivated the horror shooting.
She had also shared a number of troubling posts about struggling with her mental health and the challenges of being a mother.
The New Hampshire Department of Justice said in a press release that an investigation has been opened, and while 'the investigation is just beginning, there does not appear to be any threat to the general public in connection with these two deaths.'
'At this time, authorities are investigating this as a possible murder and suicide of these two residents living at that location,' the release stated.
Neighbor Ryan Demers told the Concord Monitor that he has lived by the family's home for two years, but said: 'I don't know who lived there and I don't think I ever saw them come out of the house.
'As far I knew, they pretty much kept to themselves.'
The state's medical examiner conducted autopsies on the mother and son on Friday, and determined both causes of death were single gunshot wounds to the head.
While Julia's manner of death is still pending, Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Abigail Alexander determined that Blake's manner of death was a homicide.
According to her social media activity, Julia had enlisted in the US Army in 2018.
She was praised in a Facebook post from the military's recruitment station in Concord, New Hampshire, which said she was a graduate from Pembroke Academy.
The recruitment station noted that she would attend basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, and was awarded an enlistment bonus on her way to becoming an armament, electrical and avionics system repairer.
It is unclear if Byrne graduated basic training or if she was still an active member of the military at the time of her death this week.
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